Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to investigate alleged fly tipping. Any fault has not caused an injustice to the complainant.

The complaint

1. Ms A says the Council failed to;

• investigate her fly tipping complaint thoroughly and lacked professionalism; and
• corroborate the perpetrator’s claim to permission for fly tipping and closed her complaint without any explanation.

2. Ms A also says it is not clear a Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) interview took place, and the investigator gave her incorrect information.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms A and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms A reported to the Council her neighbour had ‘fly-tipped’ some materials on land near her home.
8. The Council investigated but Ms A is unhappy with the result and the way the Council handled the matter.
9. Neither the neighbour’s original action nor the Council’s response has caused
   Ms A injustice. Using public money to investigate would be disproportionate and is therefore not warranted.
10. If we are not investigating the underlying events, we do not investigate separately the way a council handles complaints and correspondence about the matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman